Design Thinking at Gannett

Design Thinking at Gannett

INSIGHT Reports, 2013

11G

The biggest publisher of newspapers in America acknowledges it is a “dead tree” company that needs to innovate to remain relevant in a digital world. Working closely with IDEO, they developed a Design Thinking group reporting directly to the CEO. This group was called 11G (we were on the 11th floor of the Gannett HQ) and we were regularly deployed across the country to the various newspapers and radio stations that requested our help in developing new product ideas.

Expand the product concept into a full business model and create a minimum viable product

Insight Report for Cleveland’s WKYC

At a time when television is facing heavy competition for attention from mobile devices and social media, we wanted to better understand how WKYC’s audience might wake up and get ready for the day. We know from previous research that the morning sets up the rest of day. We also have a newscast format that has been honed and perfected over the years. We wanted to seek fresh opportunities in this well understood area.

Guiding us was the question: How might we help people get their mornings off to the best possible start?

Insight Report for The Springfield News-Leader

The Springfield News-Leader identified a gap in the local marketplace when they concluded that there was no standout resource for things to do in Springfield. Seeing an opportunity that had a broad overlap with their core competencies, they decided to take a closer look at how people in Springfield choose what to do with their free time.

Guiding us was the question: How might we become the region’s most valued, comprehensive, and engaging source for discovering things to do?

Insight & Concept Test Findings for The Coloradoan

The Answerizer is a proposed service that provides detailed answers to questions posted by locals about anything regarding Fort Collins, Colorado. The staff of The Coloradoan has deep, detailed knowledge of everything happening in Fort Collins and may reach their audience more effectively through a “pull” model instead of the traditional “push” of news reporting. The Answerizer offers the potential of transitioning the Coloradoan from a solely product-based business to a product and service-based business which fits the needs of a younger audience and gives people in Fort Collins a new way to engage with local news media.

11G worked with the team at The Coloradoan to bring a consumer-first mindset to the process of testing the Answerizer concept. The goal was to determine if there was a need and a desire for this kind of service, and if so what form it should take, before costly product development began. Through a week of focused effort, critical insights were gleaned to support successful incubation of the service.